RELATIONS BETWEEN ATTITUDES OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIONS TOWARDS SCHOOL PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND THE NATIONAL EXAMINATION RESULTS IN ESTONIAN SCHOOLS
RELATIONS BETWEEN ATTITUDES OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIONS TOWARDS SCHOOL PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND THE NATIONAL EXAMINATION RESULTS IN ESTONIAN SCHOOLS

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to explore how attitudes of school administration towards school performance criteria are related to pupils’ national examination results. The national examination results for each school from a period of six years (2000–2005) were compared with school administration attitudes. The empirical study was conducted in 2005–2006 among school administrations in Estonian secondary schools (n = 57, one respondent from each school). The questionnaire consisted of 24 different aspects of the criteria for potential school performance. A factor analysis enabled us to divide these criteria into four groups: 1) pupils’ academic performance, 2) school management, pupils’ non-academic skills, 3) school environment, and 4) pupils’ educational progress, competence of teachers. The results showed that school administration attitudes have an effect on pupils’ national examination results; although, this depends on the school’s size and location. School leaders can influence pupil achievement and so it is proposed that cooperating with other stakeholders would assist this crucial development.

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